Ari Hirschman
By Suzie Khalil

Working primarily in Bonded bronze, Hirschman authors volumes of dimensional commentary on the dynamic of human interaction. Attracted to the study of the individual experience within social contexts, Hirschman situates thinly rendered (barely three-dimensional) figural heads atop tall metal rods. The playful nature of Hirschman sculptures is realized immediately through arrangement of his pieces. His figural sculptures can be situated in a multitude of possible juxtapositions, each offering a new spin on what happens when individuals are in proximity. The dynamic systems that Hirschman recognizes in our world are elegantly maintained in his bronze manifestations.

Hirschman sculptures are characterized by a bold style that is highly confrontational and highly conceptual. The result of Hirschman’s in your face figurative sculptures is an indelible impression on viewers.

The main body of his work explores different situations such as small and large gatherings, the role of leaders and followers, the masses, the thinkers, how the sexes view each other, and the slow march of civilization in modern societies.



Ari Hirschman
By Mary Thurman Yuhas

Ari Hirschman is as unique as his artwork. After graduating with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., the self-described tecky assumed he would follow a traditional business path. During his college years, the young Hirschman had worked in the computer industry and planned to follow a career in the same field. "I love science," Hirschman said.
But one in the business world, he quickly learned it wasn’t what he had expected. I never was able to fit into a normal work routine, he said. His solution was to work harder but he says, "I was always trying to fit into Ari’s world."
Hirschman was very successful in the burgeoning computer field, and he says that caused him to struggle even more as he attempted to make sense of his dissatisfaction.
In the early 80s, Hirschman took a sabbatical. He competed in bike racing all across the country and nationally ranked fourteenth. "I like to push the limits on pretty much everything", he said.
A year later, his cash nearly depleted and his enthusiasm for the sport ebbing, a reluctant Hirschman returned to the work place. Hirschman continued to climb the corporate ladder but it became painfully evident to him, the computer world was not where he belonged. "I wanted to escape from the confines of the computer industry." His watercolor painting, Back to Work, depicts the inner conflict he was experiencing.
A chance enrollment in an art class was an epiphany for Hirschman. The man who had doodled and drawn since he was a little boy at last recognized and released the artist inside him.
In typical Hirschman style, he dove into his newly discovered passion and was consumed by it. He devoted hours and hours to countless classes learning techniques and how to draw, paint and sculpt figuratively. Once he mastered these skills, he progressed to more contemporary artwork and worked with watercolors for years because he wanted a looser style. Twenty years later the artist says, "My intention is never to end up with something that looks like a photograph."
Hirschman says, Joe Meyers, an artist and one of his instructors was a powerful influence. Hirschman says that Meyers opened his eyes to the philosophical aspects of art and he said, He taught art versus technique.
Hirschman began showing his work in juried art shows and was very pleased with the reception he received. They were placed focally in good locations at the galleries, he said.
In 2004, Hirschman quit his computer job to fully concentrate on his art and moved to Boca Raton, Fla. with his wife Laura and their three young children. He says he moved to South Florida because it has such a mix of people and cultures, which he feels will have a positive influence on his art. He also has family here, and he said, "I value family."
Hirschman thinks his background is a strong influence in his art. The artist was born in Topeka, Kan. but shortly after his physician parents moved back to his father’s native Buenos Aries, Argentina where he lived with them and his brother and sister until he was 13.
Political instability caused his family to return to the U.S. and the family settled in the Kensington suburb of D.C. Hirschman found himself in a totally unfamiliar environment where he didn’t speak the language, didn’t understand the culture, and was very homesick. He had to draw on all of his resources to cope with the huge, painful change. "It was very challenging," he said and "I was not the most social."
Hirschman’s art is filled with emotion, whether it is joy or sadness and or his sense of humor, which is impossible to miss. His love of science and fascination with time and space, and human nature are also represented in his art. Hirschman says he thinks of death more than most people and he said, "I’m aware of life’s brevity and a lot of my work deals with it" he said.
Recently Hirschman has begun painting with oils because he feels he has more control. When he looks at his finished pieces he says, "I don’t know where it comes from."
He sculpts are in every medium but wood. Hirschman is especially fond of bronze because he says it is strong and will last well into the future. His soulful and often primitive sculptures manage to combine the old with the new and each piece tells a story.
After years in the nine to five world, Hirschman is overjoyed to be able to devote his life to art, and he says he feels so fortunate because for him this is as good as it gets.

Juried Shows

12-1992 The Art League - Membership Show - (The Affair)
01-1993 The Art League - Membership Show - (Lady on a Stool)
04-1996 Two Person Show at Sunset Grill, Washington, DC. Ink Drawings by Ari
Hirschman & 16x20 B&W Photographs by T. Reinhardt
05-1996 The Art League - Membership Show - (Sprinter at the Line)
10-1998 The Art League - Membership Show - (I'm Back)
? VA show
11-2005 Courtyard - Annual Winter Open Juried Art Exhibition - Boca Raton
Museum of Art - The Artist Guild (Feather)
12-2005 Images - Boca Raton Museum of Art - The Artist Guild (The Conversation)
(3d Place)
01-2006 Images - Boca Raton Museum of Art - The Artist Guild (The March)
(Judge's Recognition)
02-2006 Images - Boca Raton Museum of Art - The Artist Guild (Here They Come)
03-2006 Images - Boca Raton Museum of Art - The Artist Guild (Unbalanced)
04-2006 Images - Boca Raton Museum of Art - The Artist Guild (Feather)
(3d Place)
08-2006 Images - Boca Raton Museum of Art - The Artist Guild (Here They Come-Series 2)
(2nd Place)
09-2006 Images - Boca Raton Museum of Art - The Artist Guild (Here They Come)
(2nd Place)
07-2008 Boca Raton Museum of Art - Artists’ Guild Biennial Members’ Juried Exhibition (March in D Minor)
01-2009 Boca High Juried Exhibition (Bust of Tom (Sweating finish on plaster))
(1st Place)
09-2009 Tech City Juried Show (It's A Bit Complicated)
(Honorable Mention)
10-2009 Images - Boca Raton Museum of Art – The Artists Guild (It's Complicated)
(1st Place)


Gallery Shows / Representation:

Tides Gallery December 2006 Miami, FL
Unzipped Gallery January 2007 Miami, FL
Miami Art Group 2007 to 8/2009 (Gallery Closed) Miami, FL
Exor Gallery 4/2008 to present Boca Raton, FL
Exor Gallery 3/2009 Two Person Show Boca Raton, FL
Exor Gallery 9/2008 Three Person Show Boca Raton, FL
Collection Privée 10/2009 Miami Beach, FL
Studio E Gallery 11/2009 Palm Beach, FL

Reviews:

Published in “New Times – Broward – Palm Beach” on March 31, 2009 at 1:19pm
By Michael Mills

Exor Galleries in Boca Raton Proves There Is Local Gallery Life
Details:
"Into the Deep: Sharon Karni & Ari Hirschman"Through April 30 at Exor Galleries, Royal Palm Place, 291 Via Naranjas, Ste. 45A, Boca Raton. Call 561-361-7474, or visit exorgalleries.com.
A new gallery is always cause for rejoicing, especially in these uncertain times. And so it was with great pleasure that, after a series of miscommunication about my impending visit, I finally discovered Exor Galleries, which just celebrated its first birthday in Boca Raton's Royal Palm Place.
Exor is really a refreshing two-in-one combination: the airy, well-lit main gallery and, a few doors down, an annex that's a suite of additional smaller rooms. The main gallery is currently home to "Into the Deep: Sharon Karni & Ari Hirschman," which will eventually rotate to the supplementary display space of the annex. The work of Israeli artist Karni has little in common with that of Hirschman, an American based in Boca Raton. Each, however, complements the other beautifully, if somewhat oddly.
Karni's mixed-media paintings draw primarily on a ...
... in a sea of blue the color of oxidized copper.
That blue, and its earthy-colored surroundings, are just about the only clear visual link between Karni's work and that of Hirschman, whose sculptures here tend to draw on the same palette. Whereas Karni's paintings are utterly devoid of a distinct human presence other than those items of clothing left behind as remnants, Hirschman's metal-based sculptures are all but obsessed with human signifiers, specifically heads.
Hirschman, a conceptualist, is at his most arresting when he creates groupings of his elegant figurines, which consist of tall, thin rods of varying heights extending from cubed metal bases and ending in flattened metallic heads. Like people in social situations, the components of these works can be arranged and rearranged in various juxtapositions, depending on what the artist wishes to communicate. Sometimes Hirschman appends tiny masks on his little heads, which adds another layer to contemplate.
For the freestanding It's Complicated and its wall-mounted correlative, A Bit Complicated, Hirschman presents metal hammers and mallets along with gigantic nails, some of which are driven through big books and all of which have human faces. Given your predisposition to such conceptual whimsy, multiple readings of these pieces are possible.
I found less leeway for interpretation in a work like As Time Goes By. This elaborate construction consists of four low, long, narrow carts, connected like train cars, each bearing half a dozen rods leading up to small platforms holding tins full of human heads in various configurations. The tins, reminiscent of those you might get sardines in, are obviously laden with metaphorical import, and the whole enterprise might come off as heavy-handed if it weren't also so physically engaging; in short, the sculpture is just plain fun.

Misc:

Articles:

l Design District Winter 2008
l Art Of The Time Volume 1, Fall 2008
l Parklander Feb 2009
l Boca Life May 2009 (also on the Palmbeacher, etc.)

Patents:
Title: Generating metrics for networked devices
Patent ID: US7143158
Issue Date: November 28, 2006